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Journal of Dairy Science May 2018Over the last 25 years, whole-plant corn silage has become an important and popular feedstuff for dairy production. Copious research has been dedicated to the... (Review)
Review
Over the last 25 years, whole-plant corn silage has become an important and popular feedstuff for dairy production. Copious research has been dedicated to the development and evaluation of alternatives to enhance the nutritive value of whole-plant corn silage. These efforts have been aimed at manipulating the physical and chemical characteristics of whole-plant corn silage in an effort to maximize dairy profitability. Results from this review indicate that optimization of harvest maturity, kernel processing, theoretical length of cut, and cutting height improve or maintain the nutritive value and milk production of lactating dairy cows. Technological advancements have been developed and made available to dairy producers and corn growers desiring to enhance fiber and starch digestibility of whole-plant corn silage. Future research should be directed toward further assessment of new processors available in the market and the development of assessment methods for optimization of crop processor settings, harvest efficiency, and nutritional modeling.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Cattle; Digestion; Food Handling; Nutritive Value; Silage; Zea mays
PubMed: 29685271
DOI: 10.3168/jds.2017-13728 -
Nature Jun 2023Quantum computing promises to offer substantial speed-ups over its classical counterpart for certain problems. However, the greatest impediment to realizing its full...
Quantum computing promises to offer substantial speed-ups over its classical counterpart for certain problems. However, the greatest impediment to realizing its full potential is noise that is inherent to these systems. The widely accepted solution to this challenge is the implementation of fault-tolerant quantum circuits, which is out of reach for current processors. Here we report experiments on a noisy 127-qubit processor and demonstrate the measurement of accurate expectation values for circuit volumes at a scale beyond brute-force classical computation. We argue that this represents evidence for the utility of quantum computing in a pre-fault-tolerant era. These experimental results are enabled by advances in the coherence and calibration of a superconducting processor at this scale and the ability to characterize and controllably manipulate noise across such a large device. We establish the accuracy of the measured expectation values by comparing them with the output of exactly verifiable circuits. In the regime of strong entanglement, the quantum computer provides correct results for which leading classical approximations such as pure-state-based 1D (matrix product states, MPS) and 2D (isometric tensor network states, isoTNS) tensor network methods break down. These experiments demonstrate a foundational tool for the realization of near-term quantum applications.
PubMed: 37316724
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06096-3 -
Otology & Neurotology : Official... Dec 2023Bone-conduction hearing device (BCHD) uses natural sound transmission through bone and soft tissue, directly to the cochlea, via an external processor that captures and... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Observational Study
INTRODUCTION
Bone-conduction hearing device (BCHD) uses natural sound transmission through bone and soft tissue, directly to the cochlea, via an external processor that captures and processes sound, which is converted into mechanical vibrations. Key parameters, as maximum power output (MPO) and broader frequency range (FR), must be considered when indicating a BCHD because they can be decisive for speech recognition, especially under listening challenge conditions.
OBJECTIVES
Compare hearing performance and speech recognition in noise of two sound processors (SPs), with different features of MPO and FR, among BCHD users.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This single-blinded, comparative, observational study evaluated 21 individuals Baha 4 system users with conductive or mixed hearing impairment. The free-field audiometry and speech recognition results were blindly collected under the following conditions: unaided, with Baha 5, and with Baha 6 Max SP.
RESULTS
In free-field audiometry, significant differences were observed between the SP at 0.25, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz, with Baha 6 Max outperforming Baha 5. The Baha 6 Max provided significantly better speech recognition than Baha 5 under all the speech in noise conditions evaluated. Separating the transcutaneous from the percutaneous users, Baha 6 Max Attract SP provided the best results and significantly lowered the free-field thresholds than Baha 5 Attract. The Baha 6 Max also significantly improved speech recognition in noise, among both Attract and Connect users.
CONCLUSION
The present study revealed that the greater MPO and broader FR of the Baha 6 Max device helped increase high-frequency gain and improved speech recognition in BCHD-experimented users.
Topics: Humans; Bone Conduction; Hearing; Hearing Aids; Hearing Loss, Conductive; Speech; Speech Perception
PubMed: 37917961
DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000004043 -
Fish and Fisheries (Oxford, England) Jan 2021The US seafood sector is susceptible to shocks, both because of the seasonal nature of many of its domestic fisheries and its global position as a top importer and...
The US seafood sector is susceptible to shocks, both because of the seasonal nature of many of its domestic fisheries and its global position as a top importer and exporter of seafood. However, many data sets that could inform science and policy during an emerging event do not exist or are only released months or years later. Here, we synthesize multiple data sources from across the seafood supply chain, including unconventional real-time data sets, to show the relative initial responses and indicators of recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. We synthesized news articles from January to September 2020 that reported effects of COVID-19 on the US seafood sector, including processor closures, shortened fishing seasons and loss of revenue. Concerning production and distribution, we assessed past and present landings and trade data and found substantial declines in fresh seafood catches (-40%), imports (-37%) and exports (-43%) relative to the previous year, while frozen seafood products were generally less affected. Google search trends and seafood market foot traffic data suggest consumer demand for seafood from restaurants dropped by upwards of 70% during lockdowns, with recovery varying by state. However, these declines were partially offset by an increase (270%) in delivery and takeout service searches. Our synthesis of open-access data sets and media reports shows widespread, but heterogeneous, ramifications of COVID-19 across the seafood sector, implying that policymakers should focus support on states and sub-sectors most affected by the pandemic: fishery-dependent communities, processors, and fisheries and aquaculture that focus on fresh products.
PubMed: 33362433
DOI: 10.1111/faf.12525 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2022The rapid evolution of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, such as e-health and the smart ecosystem, has resulted in the emergence of numerous security flaws....
The rapid evolution of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, such as e-health and the smart ecosystem, has resulted in the emergence of numerous security flaws. Therefore, security protocols must be implemented among IoT network nodes to resist the majority of the emerging threats. As a result, IoT devices must adopt cryptographic algorithms such as public-key encryption and decryption. The cryptographic algorithms are computationally more complicated to be efficiently implemented on IoT devices due to their limited computing resources. The core operation of most cryptographic algorithms is the finite field multiplication operation, and concise implementation of this operation will have a significant impact on the cryptographic algorithm's entire implementation. As a result, this paper mainly concentrates on developing a compact and efficient word-based serial-in/serial-out finite field multiplier suitable for usage in IoT devices with limited resources. The proposed multiplier structure is simple to implement in VLSI technology due to its modularity and regularity. The suggested structure is derived from a formal and systematic technique for mapping regular iterative algorithms onto processor arrays. The proposed methodology allows for control of the processor array workload and the workload of each processing element. Managing processor word size allows for control of system latency, area, and consumed energy. The ASIC experimental results indicate that the proposed processor structure reduces area and energy consumption by factors reaching up to 97.7% and 99.2%, respectively.
PubMed: 35336260
DOI: 10.3390/s22062090 -
Journal of Anatomy Mar 2022This study assessed the intra-acquirer, intra- and inter-processor reliability, and validity of the in vivo assessment of the medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral...
This study assessed the intra-acquirer, intra- and inter-processor reliability, and validity of the in vivo assessment of the medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral gastrocnemius (LG) and soleus (SOL) muscle volumes using freehand 3D ultrasound (3DUS) in typically developing infants. Reliability assessments of freehand 3DUS were undertaken in infants across three ages groups: three, six and twelve months of age, with validity testing completed against magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in infants at 3 months of age. Freehand 3DUS scanning was carried out by a single acquirer, with two independent processors manually segmenting images to render volumes. MRI images were segmented independently by a separate processor, with the volumes compared to those obtained via freehand 3DUS. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation (ICC), coefficient of variance (CV) and minimal detectable change (MDC) across each assessment time point. Validity was assessed using the limits of agreement. ICCs for intra-acquirer reliability of the acquisition process for freehand 3DUS ranged from 0.91 to 0.99 across all muscles. ICCs for intra-processor and inter-processor reliability for the segmentation process of freehand 3DUS ranged from 0.80 to 0.98 across all muscles. Acceptable levels of agreement between muscle volume obtained by freehand 3DUS and MRI were found for all muscles; however, freehand 3DUS overestimated muscle volume of MG and LG and underestimate the SOL compared with MRI, with average absolute differences of MG = 0.3 ml, LG = 0.3 ml and Sol = 1.2 ml. Freehand 3DUS is a reliable method for measuring in vivo triceps surae muscle volume in typically developing infants. We conclude that freehand 3DUS is a useful tool to assess changes in muscle volume in response to growth and interventions in infants.
Topics: Humans; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Infant; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Muscle, Skeletal; Reproducibility of Results; Ultrasonography
PubMed: 34693531
DOI: 10.1111/joa.13565 -
IScience Jan 2022Ultra-high chip power densities that are expected to surpass 1-2kW/cm in future high-performance systems cannot be easily handled by conventional cooling methods....
Ultra-high chip power densities that are expected to surpass 1-2kW/cm in future high-performance systems cannot be easily handled by conventional cooling methods. Various emerging cooling methods, such as liquid cooling via microchannels, thermoelectric coolers (TECs), two-phase vapor chambers, and hybrid cooling options have been designed to efficiently remove heat from high-performance processors. However, selecting the optimal cooling solution for a given chip and determining the optimal cooling parameters for that solution to achieve high efficiency are open problems. These problems are, in fact, computationally expensive because of the massive space of possible solutions. To address this design challenge, this article introduces a deep learning-based cooling design optimization flow that rapidly and accurately converges to the optimal cooling solution as well as the optimal cooling parameters for a given chip floorplan and its power profile.
PubMed: 35005532
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103582 -
Micromachines Mar 2021Embedded processors are widely used in various systems working on different tasks with different workloads. A more complex micro-architecture leads to better peak...
Embedded processors are widely used in various systems working on different tasks with different workloads. A more complex micro-architecture leads to better peak performance and worse power consumption. Shutting down the units designed for performance enhancement could improve energy efficiency in low-workload scenarios. In this paper, we evaluated the energy distribution in various embedded processors. According to the analysis, pipeline registers and the dynamic branch predictor, which are employed for better peak performance, have great impacts on energy efficiency. Thus, we proposed an ultra-low-power processor with variable micro-architecture. The processor is based on a 4-stage pipeline core with a Gshare branch predictor, and all units work in high-performance mode. In normal mode, the Gshare predictor is shut down and Always-Not-Taken prediction is used. In low-power mode, some of the pipeline registers are bypassed to avoid unnecessary energy dissipation and improve executing efficiency. A mode register (MR) is designed to indicate current working mode. Switching between different modes is controlled by the software. The proposed core is implemented in 40 nm technology and simulated with the traces of 17 benchmarks in Embench. The average amounts of power consumed by the respective modes are 41.7 μW, 59.7 μW and 71.1 μW. The results show that normal mode (N-mode) and low-power mode (L-mode) consume 16.08% and 41.37% less power than high-performance mode (H-mode) on average. In best case scenarios, they could save 25.36% and 49.30% more power than H-mode. Considering the execution efficiency evaluated by instructions per cycle (IPC), the proposed processor consumes 7.78% or 51.57% less energy for each instruction than the baseline core. The area of the proposed processor is only 7.19% larger than the baseline core, and only 3.08% more power is consumed in H-mode.
PubMed: 33802187
DOI: 10.3390/mi12030292 -
Biosensors Apr 2022Correlation has a variety of applications that require signal processing. However, it is computationally intensive, and software correlators require high-performance...
Correlation has a variety of applications that require signal processing. However, it is computationally intensive, and software correlators require high-performance processors for real-time data analysis. This is a challenge for embedded devices because of the limitation of computing resources. Hardware correlators that use Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology can significantly boost computational power and bridge the gap between the need for high-performance computing and the limited processing power available in embedded devices. This paper presents a detailed FPGA-based correlator design at the register level along with the open-source Very High-Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) code. It includes base modules for linear and multi-tau correlators of varying sizes. Every module implements a simple and unified data interface for easy integration with standard and publicly available FPGA modules. Eighty-lag linear and multi-tau correlators were built for validation of the design. Three input data sets-constant signal, pulse signal, and sine signal-were used to test the accuracy of the correlators. The results from the FPGA correlators were compared against the outputs of equivalent software correlators and validated with the corresponding theoretical values. The FPGA correlators returned results identical to those from the software references for all tested data sets and were proven to be equivalent to their software counterparts. Their computation speed is at least 85,000 times faster than the software correlators running on a Xilinx MicroBlaze processor. The FPGA correlator can be easily implemented, especially on System on a Chip (SoC) integrated circuits that have processor cores and FPGA fabric. It is the ideal component for device-on-chip solutions in biosensing.
Topics: Computers; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Software
PubMed: 35448296
DOI: 10.3390/bios12040236 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2023fish can be an affordable and accessible animal-source food in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).
INTRODUCTION
fish can be an affordable and accessible animal-source food in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).
BACKGROUND
Traditional fish processing methods pose a risk of exposing fish to various contaminants that may reduce their nutritional benefit. In addition, a lack of literacy may increase women fish processors' vulnerability to malnutrition and foodborne diseases.
OBJECTIVE
The overall aim of the project was to educate women and youth fish processors in Delta State, Nigeria about the benefit of fish in the human diet and to develop low literacy tools to help them better market their products. The objective of this study was to describe the development and validation of a low-literacy flipbook designed to teach women fish processors about nutrition and food safety.
METHOD
developing and validating instructional material requires understanding the population, high-quality and relevant graphics, and the involvement of relevant experts to conduct the content validation using the Content Validity Index (CVI) and the index value translated with the Modified Kappa Index ().
RESULT
The Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) value of all domains evaluated at the initial stage was 0.83 and the Scale-level Content Validity Index (S-CVI) was 0.90. At the final stage, the material was validated with CVI 0.983 by four experts and satisfied the expected minimum CVI value for this study (CVI ≥ 0.83, -value = 0.05). The overall evaluation of the newly developed and validated flipbook was "excellent".
CONCLUSIONS
the developed material was found to be appropriate for training fish processors in Nigeria in nutrition and food safety and could be modified for a population of fish processors in other LMICs.
Topics: Humans; Female; Adolescent; Surveys and Questionnaires; Nigeria; Nutritional Status; Diet; Food Safety; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 36981799
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20064891